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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29762139">All This and Heaven Too</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ipona/pseuds/ipona'>ipona</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the one where my OT4 lives happily ever after [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Compilation of Final Fantasy VII</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Implied/Referenced Sex, Kissing, M/M, Multi, Polyamory</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:00:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,562</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29762139</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ipona/pseuds/ipona</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Having sex is the easy part. It’s simple, intuitive, uncomplicated. Kissing Aerith’s pale neck, letting Zack’s strong hands manhandle him, clinging to Tifa while pleasure takes him apart and puts him back together again, it all feels natural, and Cloud can follow his instincts without his own anxiety-ridden brain getting in the way. What’s hard is what comes after.</i><br/> <br/>Companion piece to In Our Bedroom After The War, exploring the lead-up to and the aftermath of the four of them getting together. AU where nobody dies and everyone lives happily ever after. Mostly fluff, a little bit of angst and a lot of feelings.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart, Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Tifa Lockhart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the one where my OT4 lives happily ever after [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2187411</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>All This and Heaven Too</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I just… love them, you know? And if I’m going to fill the AO3 tag for this OT4 by myself, then so be it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aerith and Zack found their way back to each other almost right away, as soon as the dust began to settle after Sephiroth’s defeat Their touches are deliberate, natural, loving. Cloud feels weird as it all unfolds right in front of his eyes, and at the same time, it’s the most natural thing there is. </p>
<p>The sour feeling in the pit of Cloud’s stomach is one he pushes away. He remembers Zack’s strong arms around his waist in an eternal wasteland, the only clarity when the world was still out of focus around him. He remembers sitting next to Aerith on a playground in the slums of Midgar, dusk settling around them, their bare arms brushing against each other as they talk about things his scrambled mind can scarcely remember.</p>
<p>And then in the middle of it all, there’s Tifa, who saved him when all seemed lost, whose strong hands and kind heart is all he’s ever dreamed of, what has tethered him to reality despite all he’s gone through.</p>
<p>For Cloud, there’s a vacuum. For months, they were on the road, chasing the shadow of their foe, a constant goal at the end of their road. Afterwards, everyone else seems to have somewhere to go back to, but Cloud has no idea where he belongs after all is said and done. His mind is still struggling to both piece everything back together again and find his place in this new world.</p>
<p>As naturally as he breaths, he finds solace in Tifa, like he has since they were reunited all those months ago. She’s the one who helped heal his broken mind, the one who stayed by his side through everything and then some. It’s not strange that somewhere along the way, she ends up sharing his bed, and what they find themselves in is a relationship that’s tentative and new as well as warm and passionate.</p>
<p>The four of them find themselves back in Midgar. Or at the edge of what used to be Midgar, with a small community that looks out for each other and grows every day.</p>
<p>Tifa takes the first steps towards rebuilding Seventh Heaven, Aerith plants flowers in the ruins of Sector 5, Zack takes odd jobs wherever he can find them. Cloud feels lost, just floating along with the current, helping where he can. They fall into a comfortable rhythm that makes Cloud feel safe, among the friends who make him feel like he belongs, like there’s a purpose to him being there with them.</p>
<p>Cloud doesn’t get used to walking in on Zack with his arms around Aerith’s small frame or hands cupping her face, kissing her slowly. Cloud clears his throat, pinning them with a meaningful gaze. He feels as though he’s interrupted a very private moment, and when the unwelcome feelings that he can’t name returns to Cloud’s belly he pushes it down, down, down.</p>
<p>”Productive, are we?” Tifa comments, because Aerith and Zack are supposed to be doing inventory, not kissing. There’s a smile in her voice that tells them all that she doesn’t mean anything by the sarcasm. They break apart and Zack looks caught off guard for only a moment before he runs a hand over the back of his head, mussing dark locks.</p>
<p>”Well, look at her,” he says, gesturing at Aerith, who smiles with a light blush tinting her cheeks. ”Can you blame me?”</p>
<p>”No,” Tifa says with a laugh. ”I guess not.”</p>
<p>There’s a sadness behind her eyes, behind the smile she shows Zack and Aerith, and Cloud wonders if he’s the only one who sees it.</p>
<p>Both Zack and Aerith are naturally very affectionate people, not strangers to close hugs or kisses pressed to cheeks of foreheads. Cloud and Tifa are more reserved, keeping their affections in private, careful to not overstep any boundaries. </p>
<p>It’s all thrown out the window when they walk in on Zack taking Aerith on the bar in Seventh Heaven. One thing leads to another and on Zack’s initiative, all of them end up in Cloud and Tifa’s bedroom, on a bed that’s really too small to accommodate all of them.</p>
<p>They have sex, and while everything changes, nothing really does at all.</p>
<p>Having sex is the easy part. It’s simple, intuitive, uncomplicated. Kissing Aerith’s pale neck, letting Zack’s strong hands manhandle him, clinging to Tifa while pleasure takes him apart and puts him back together again, it all feels natural, and Cloud can follow his instincts without his own anxiety-ridden brain getting in the way. </p>
<p>What’s hard is what comes after. </p>
<p>They don’t talk about it, and not much changes. Aerith keeps hugging him close, kissing his cheek just like she did before, to both him and Tifa. Zack wraps his arm casually around Cloud’s shoulders as he laughs, and everything goes on, they keep building a life together.</p>
<p>Tifa teaches him some useful hand-to-hand moves, and Cloud teaches her to use a blade. Everything feels easy when he’s sparring with Tifa on the dusty piece of land they call a backyard, when their instincts and muscle memory decide the course of action. In the heat of the moment, they’re like magnets being pulled together.</p>
<p>She pounces on him, letting strike after strike land against his arms and torso. He parries easily, giving her the same treatment in return. Tifa’s only in her sports bra and the short shorts she wears under her skirts, and Cloud has abandoned his own shirt in the heat that lies heavy over the edge between the wasteland and what used to be Midgar. Their lack of clothing doesn’t bother him until Tifa flies at him, locking his head between her bare thighs and twisting her body to bring him to the ground.</p>
<p>Cloud feels his face grow warmer at the intimate contact, but Tifa disentangles from him easily, leaving him in the dust. Cloud looks up at her. Tifa is all curves and lean planes of defined muscle. Her skin has been tanned from the sun, and she smiles down at him, red eyes burning hot.</p>
<p>”Come on, keep up,” she tells him, half joke, half cocky confidence, and Cloud smiles as he jumps to his feet.</p>
<p>It takes a while, both of them growing tired and sweaty, their moves slowing, turning sloppy. And finally, he gets her on the ground. Tifa is both flexible and strong, making her almost impossible to keep trapped for long. He’s straddling her waist, having caught both her wrists in his hands, pinning them to the ground. She’s breathing heavily, red eyes burning as they dart between meeting his own and glancing down at his lips.</p>
<p>Then, before he can react, he’s slammed onto his back, a grinning Tifa having turned them around. She’s got a more secure hold on him than he had on her, and he lets his head fall back against the dusty ground as a chuckle escapes his lips.</p>
<p>”That’s what you get for letting down your guard,” Tifa tells him.</p>
<p>”Lesson learned,” Cloud laughs. But even though Cloud relaxes in her hold, silently giving up, all she does is move to release him from her hold. She doesn’t move to get up, instead settling for straddling his waist, hands resting on his chest.</p>
<p>Then she leans down, kissing his lips softly. It’s barely a press, tiny, chaste, and lasts only a second. Cloud’s limbs move faster than his brain, spurred on by the adrenaline of the sparring session, his hands come up to tangle in her hair, pulling her down against him again. She smiles into the kiss, and Cloud’s entire world boils down to Tifa, her bare skin against his, her full lips on his, the hint of teeth as she nips at his bottom lip, his hands in her hair, messing up the braid she’s pulled it into to keep it out of her face during sparring.</p>
<p>The world catches up to them when a wolf whistle rings through the air, and as Cloud pulls away from Tifa and turns his head towards the sound, he sees Aerith in the doorway to the house, grinning, her arms crossed over her chest. Tifa buries her face in Cloud’s shoulder, and though it could be interpreted as embarrassment, Cloud feels her lips curl into a smile against his skin.</p>
<p>Just behind Aerith, Zack leans against the door frame, a crooked smile gracing his lips as he looks at them. Cloud feels hot under their gazes, and he thinks that maybe they should talk about all of this.</p>
<p>Occasionally, Zack and Cloud go out to do mercenary work together. Cloud doesn’t like it as much as he thought he would. Ever since he got his head straight, it feels disingenuous to pretend to be a SOLDIER, or even some kind of professional at fighting monsters or protecting the public. But on some jobs, Zack wants back-up, and with Tifa getting the bar set up and Aerith tending to her growing garden, Cloud is the only available person in their little family. And either way, Cloud doesn’t know where to fit in if he’s not fighting anymore.</p>
<p>This time, it’s a pack of monsters of a variety that Cloud doesn’t know the name of that’s been terrorizing a farm a couple of miles east of town. They’re big and nasty, with horns that nearly impale Cloud on two occasions, were it not for Zack being there to pull him out of harm’s way.</p>
<p>”Thanks,” Cloud mutters when they’ve done away with all the creatures and he plops down on the grass, carelessly flinging his sword a little bit away.</p>
<p>”No worries, buddy,” Zack says as he sits down next to him. ”I was the one who forced you to come along, least I can do is keep you alive.”</p>
<p>Zack looks way too energetic, the only signs of the fight being the blood on his clothes and the light flush of his cheeks. Cloud, on the other hand, feels his muscles scream in protest when he moves. ”I think I’m getting soft.”</p>
<p>”Hmm?” Zack just looks at him, eyeing him over silently for a while. Zack’s eyes are the most intense ones he’s even had the pleasure of being scrutinized by. It’s probably a good deal because of the mako, which seems so much more intense in Zack’s eyes than in his own. But there’s also a spark of something else, something that is all Zack and has nothing to do with SOLDIER or Shinra. ”That doesn’t have to be a bad thing, Cloud.”</p>
<p>”I don’t know how to be soft.”</p>
<p>”No?” Zack says and reaches up to ruffle his hair. ”I beg to differ.”</p>
<p>The touch feels nice, but on reflex, Cloud pulls his head away. Zack’s hand in his hair brings back memories that he would rather be without. His mind repressed them for a long time, and while he’s glad to have them back, the fact that Zack came back doesn’t make it any less painful to think of how he died and how Cloud couldn’t do anything to save him.</p>
<p>But Zack doesn’t give in. Because, of course he knows exactly what to do to make Cloud feel better. He shuffles closer, wrapping an arm around Cloud’s shoulders instead, pulling him close. Zack is warm, heat radiating off his skin. Somehow, he still smells nice after the fight, and Cloud lets himself sit in silence for a while, lets himself feel safe and comfortable leaned against Zack’s solid form.</p>
<p>”Did you think it was gonna end up like this?” Zack asks, breaking the silence. ”You and me, mercenaries?” He pauses for a bit, hesitating before continuing. ”You and me, getting a happy ending?”</p>
<p>”No,” Cloud admits. ”But I’m glad it did.”</p>
<p>He looks up at Zack for a moment. Zack is sharp angles, a strong jawline and high cheekbones, mixed with soft lips and warm eyes. The corner of his mouth pulled into a crooked smile. Cloud wants to kiss him, but even though he has done more than kissed Zack before, he doesn’t know if it’s okay for him to do it now. He doesn’t know what this entire thing is or how to navigate it.</p>
<p>After a moment, Zack exhales on a small laugh, closes his eyes, and pulls away from Cloud.</p>
<p>”We should get going,” he says, getting up and offering his hand to Cloud. Cloud takes it, letting Zack heave him up, as if he weighs nothing. Cloud tries to ignore the way his belly does backflips. Everything has been getting so muddled between the four of them, but Cloud knows that whatever feelings Zack, or Aerith for that matter, stir in the pit of his stomach, do nothing to lessen the desire he feels when Tifa presses close to him at night or steals kisses from him in between chores.</p>
<p>Cloud is the one who drives them back, with Zack clinging to his back. Usually Zack holds onto the seat to steady himself, but when he gets on behind Cloud this time, he lets large hands rest on Cloud’s waist instead. The entire way back, Cloud is hyper aware of it.</p>
<p>When they arrive back home, the sun has set. Zack gets off first, and Cloud lingers on the seat of the bike. His sides feel cold where Zack’s hands rested. When he looks over at Zack, he finds himself meeting mako eyes staring back at him. Zack looks around them for anyone who might be watching, before he moves in close, setting one hand back on Cloud’s waist, the other caressing his face, fingertips gentle against his cheek. Cloud just looks at him, silently.</p>
<p>”Is this okay?” Zack murmurs the question into the air between them, and Cloud can feel his cheeks heat up. Zack’s warm breath fans out over his skin. He’s sure both his cheeks and the tips of his ears have turned pink and the dusk that has fallen around them is suddenly a comfort. ”Please say it’s okay.”</p>
<p>Zack is so close. He’s tall and solid, broad shoulders and built chest making Cloud want to just melt into him. His hands move on their own, resting on Zack’s chest, the fabric of his t-shirt soft under Cloud’s fingers.</p>
<p>”More than okay,” he murmurs. He feels Zack smile against his lips as he kisses him. Cloud wants to drown in it, but pulls away before it goes too far. There are curious eyes everywhere and Cloud would rather they not be even more of the talk of the town than they already are.</p>
<p>Inside, Tifa and Aerith are waiting for them. They have closed up the bar for the night. The floor is newly cleaned and Tifa leans against the broom, smiling and greeting them.</p>
<p>”Did you have fun?” Aerith asks, a knowing smile playing at her lips as she leans forward over the bar.</p>
<p>”Very,” Zack says, still smiling as he walks over and presses a peck to her lips.</p>
<p>Aerith stands up straight, stretching and rolling her shoulders as she yawns. ”I think I’m going to bed. Join me, Tifa?”</p>
<p>A slight blush spreads over Tifa’s cheeks as Aerith takes her hand, weaving their fingers together as she leads her towards the living quarters upstairs. She nods and turns back to smile apologetically at Cloud. He feels warm excitement running through his body, just below the skin.</p>
<p>”Cloud can sleep with Zack,” Aerith adds just before the two disappear from sight. Tifa’s light giggle rings through the house.</p>
<p>”Guess you have no choice but to bunk with me.” Zack winks and Cloud rolls his eyes. The three of them are going to be the death of him.</p>
<p>”What a nightmare,” he says as he leans up to kiss Zack again. Zack smiles into the kiss. It feels right.</p>
<p>They’ve built a home on top of the new and improved Seventh Heaven. Tifa works a lot. Every day, for way too many hours, to make ends meet for them all. Cloud has started a small delivery service, Aerith grows and sells flowers in the old church, and Zack mostly does mercenary work, but they all know that Seventh Heaven is what makes the money. </p>
<p>They kiss, sleep in the same bed, have sex. They still haven’t talked about it.</p>
<p>Cloud falls into the habit of picking up Aerith at the church after he’s finished his deliveries for the day. She stays there late, later than any of them are comfortable with. Aerith, as usual, doesn’t listen to anyone but herself and meets Cloud with a smile on her face. She fills his nostrils with the scent of a multitude of flowers as she presses close to hug him and press a quick kiss to his lips. </p>
<p>There’s a quiet comfort when he’s with Aerith in the church. It feels serene, being surrounded by the flowers in the ruins of where they first met. They linger there, while Aerith picks flowers for the bar and tucks a yellow lily behind Cloud’s ear with a smile.</p>
<p>She keeps close to Cloud’s back on the motorcycle the entire way back, arms wrapped around his waist, fingers playing with the hem of his shirt, occasionally slipping underneath to caress the skin of his stomach. Cloud cherishes the quiet alone time between them. </p>
<p>The quiet is broken right away as they get back to Seventh Heaven. Raised voices come from inside, and Cloud rushes to the door, suddenly nervous. Aerith grabs his arm just as he reaches the door though.</p>
<p>”Well, newsflash, you’re not in charge here!” Tifa almost never yells, but now her voice is loud and clear, even as it’s muffled through the door. Cloud is even more surprised when it’s Zack’s voice that answers back at her. He looks down at Aerith who just shakes her head, keeping her grip on his arm. Aerith always seems to know more than the rest of them. Cloud doesn’t know if it’s because she’s a Cetra or because she’s just more observant. But Cloud would trust her with his life, and so they wait outside and listen.</p>
<p>”So what was I supposed to do? Just stand and watch as some old man molests you?” Zack’s voice is shriller than usual. Just as Tifa seldom raises her voice, Zack rarely gets angry. Officially, Tifa hires Zack as a bouncer every so often, mostly for show. You don’t mess with the bar that has a retired SOLDIER as a bouncer. But Zack rarely gets paid, since all of their earnings go towards the bar and their home and the little family they’ve built here anyway.</p>
<p>”You were not supposed to punch him!”</p>
<p>”You’re the one who wanted me to help!”</p>
<p>”I’ve run a bar for years, I think I can handle a handsy drunk.”</p>
<p>”Well, you shouldn’t have to.” Zack’s voice has softened again, like all anger in him has dissipated, and then there are no more voices, the yelling replaced with rustling and a glass shattering against the floor. At that, Cloud flings the door open, Aerith following behind into the bar.</p>
<p>And Zack and Tifa are certainly not fighting anymore. Instead, Zack has Tifa pressed up against the bar, leaning over her, her face cradled in his hands as he kisses her. Tifa’s fingers are tangled in his t-shirt and she’s on her tippy toes to reach up to him. Aerith whistles as Zack and Tifa pull apart slowly, and Cloud feels Aerith hug his arm tighter, pressing a smile into the skin of his shoulder.</p>
<p>”Can I get this as payment from now on?” Zack mutters, lips so close that they almost brush against Tifa’s again.</p>
<p>Zack glances up to greet Cloud and Aerith. A grin spreads over his face, and he lets his hands run over Tifa’s shoulders and down to her waist, clearly feeling up her curves as he keeps eye contact with Cloud and Aerith.</p>
<p>The four of them all share the bed that night, getting tangled up in each other until the sun begins to rise, coating the room in yellow light as they finally fall asleep, spent and content.</p>
<p>Cloud wakes up with a face full of dark hair. His arms are wrapped around Tifa’s trim waist. Soft lips and rough stubble presses against his shoulder, Zack’s heavy arm slung over his torso. He feels Aerith’s hands against his abdomen. They’re pressed between him and Tifa as the two women sleep in each other’s arms.</p>
<p>Daylight spills in through the window and catches in Aerith’s auburn hair, sets alight the freckles on her bare skin. Zack sleepily mutters something against Cloud’s shoulder, warm breath panning out over his skin. When they’re like this, Cloud feels warm and safe, his insides steadily healing.</p>
<p>Tifa stirs next to him, twisting onto her back, face turned toward Cloud.</p>
<p>”’Mornin’,” he whispers, red eyes just barely open to look at him.</p>
<p>”Morning,” he echoes, letting his fingers trace patterns over the skin of her stomach. Aerith mutters in her sleep and snuggles closer to Tifa’s other side. The look of pure adoration in Tifa’s eyes as she glances down at Aerith makes Cloud feel warm inside. He feels Zack stir behind him as lips press to his shoulder blade in a lazy kiss.</p>
<p>They still haven’t talked about it, but maybe they don’t have to.</p>
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